CORRECT THE "LEFT" ERRORS IN LAND REFORM PROPAGANDA

February 11, 1948

[This inner-Party directive was drafted by Comrade Mao Tse-tung for the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China. ]

In the past few months our news agency and newspapers in many places have
publicized without discrimination or analysis many unsound reports and articles
containing "Left" deviationist errors. Here are some examples.

1.They did not propagate the line of relying on the poor peasants
and farm labourers and firmly uniting with the middle peasants in order to
abolish the feudal system, but one-sidedly propagated a poor peasant-farm
labourer line. They did not propagate the view that the proletariat should
unite with all working people and others who are oppressed, the national
bourgeoisie, the intellectuals and other patriots (including the enlightened
gentry who do not oppose land reform) in order to overthrow the rule of
imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism and establish a People's
Republic of China and a people's democratic government, but one-sidedly
propagated the view that the poor peasants and farm labourers conquer the
country and should rule the country, or that the democratic government should
be a government of the peasants only, or that the democratic government should
listen only to the workers, poor peasants and farm labourers, while no mention
at all was made of the middle peasants, the independent craftsmen, the national
bourgeoisie and the intellectuals. This is a serious error of principle.
Yet reports of this kind have been circulated by our news agency, newspapers
and radio stations. And the propaganda departments of the Party committees
in various places have failed to report these errors to the higher levels.
In the past few months such propaganda, though not widespread, has been fairly
frequent and has created an atmosphere in which people have been misled into
believing that it might represent the correct leading ideas. Because the
Northern Shensi Radio Station broadcast some incorrect items, people even
mistakenly believed that these were views approved by the Central Committee.

2. On the question of Party consolidation, there has not been sufficiently
vigorous propaganda in some areas either against taking no account of class
origin or against taking account of class origin alone; and there has even
been erroneous propaganda which advocates taking account of class origin
alone.

3. On the question of land reform, in some areas propaganda against both
hesitation and rashness has been taken well in hand; but in many areas rashness
has been encouraged and articles praising it have even been published. On
the question of the relationship between the leadership and the masses, attention
has been given in some areas to conducting propaganda against both commandism
and tailism, but in many areas there has been an erroneous emphasis on "doing
everything as the masses want it done" and an accommodation to wrong views
existing among the masses. Even wrong views held not by the masses but only
by a few individuals have been uncritically accepted. This negates the leading
role of the Party and encourages tailism.

4. With regard to policies concerning industry and commerce and the working-class
movement, serious "Left" deviations existing in certain Liberated Areas have
been either praised or ignored.

To sum up, in the past few months our propaganda work has correctly reflected
and guided the great struggles -- the war, the land reform, Party consolidation,
production and support for the front -- and contributed to their great
achievements; this is the major aspect of our propaganda work, and it must
be affirmed first of all. But some errors and shortcomings must also be noted.
They are of an ultra-Left character. A few run completely counter to the
principles and standpoint of Marxism-Leninism and depart completely from
the line of the Central Committee. It is expected that the bureaus and
sub-bureaus of the Central Committee, their propaganda departments, the central
and regional head offices of the Hsinhua News Agency and the comrades working
on all the newspapers will check up on the propaganda work of the last few
months on the basis of Marxist-Leninist principles and the line of the Central
Committee, extend their achievements, correct their errors and see to it
that their work helps to ensure victory in these great struggles -- the war,
the land reform, Party consolidation, the working-class movement -- and to
ensure victory in the whole anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution.
The propaganda departments of the Party committees in all areas and the central
office of the Hsinhua News Agency should assume the main responsibility for
this check-up and should submit, in their own names, policy reports on its
results to the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee.